


Nice Having H.G. Back

by Typey



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-11
Updated: 2013-04-11
Packaged: 2017-12-26 11:43:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/965543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Typey/pseuds/Typey





	Nice Having H.G. Back

Claudia heard the kitchen door open — too softly to be Pete, so likely Myka — but didn’t look up. She loved Myka, she did. But she just wasn’t in the mood for a “big sister,” reverse psychology pep talk.

Claudia had fucked up. Artie had told her so by pointing his finger out of the Warehouse in a sharp dismissal for the day. Myka had told her with the single shake of her head. Pete had told her by not looking at her. Trailer had told her by looking.

It had been an hour, alone in the B&B with no one to talk to, no one to apologize to.

Artie would probably be able to fix the mess she’d made of the system following her epic fail of distracted coding, but she had cost everyone time and, though no one would say it out loud yet, may have deleted some files. For good.

“Talk to me.”

The soft, undemanding voice was not Myka’s.

Claudia slumped at the table, her head dropping to her forearms.

“So, you’ve heard?”‘ The question was only just shy of a whine.

A gentle, but insistent, hand guided her right shoulder back so that she had to sit up. H.G. stood next to her, silent and still.

Taking a deep breath, Claudia straightened her back and prepared for what was sure to be an old-fashioned Victorian dressing-down. But H.G. only drew a chair from the adjacent side of the table and sat next to Claudia, never removing her hand.

“Please, talk to me.”

Claudia’s eyes began to fill with tears she’d been holding in since the moment she’d dragged-and-dropped in the master directory.

“Talk, sweetheart. Not cry. At least, not yet.” A small smile from H.G. coaxed one from Claudia. Her lower lip started quivering, though, and before she knew it she was talking just to keep from sobbing.

Talking about the pressure to prove her competence to the team; competence in the real world they already had so much experience in, but also in the geek stuff they expected her to know everything about all the time. Talking about the voice in her head that questioned whether they thought she really (still?) had _voices_ in her head. Talking about wanting to be treated like one of the team, but still wanting to keep her personality and hair and slang.

Talking about how Myka was perfect and Pete didn’t have to be. And what kind of fun — the Pete Cave? Myka dancing around the B&B sometimes? — was appropriate and what would be “unprofessional” or “immature”.

She ran out of breath before she’d really run out of words, but her thoughts were jumbled and she knew she’d gotten far off the track of today’s mistake. Not quite daring to look up at H.G. but not willing to start another torrent of words, Claudia stared at her own hands.

Another hand reached out to claim her balled fists. Warmth and strength soothing her so simply.

“You are growing up, sweetheart. And I imagine most young women in your world today have so many opportunities to adopt personalities and to annoy their elders and discover the world. But you are here and have no real peers. And I imagine they also have many opportunities to make and learn from mistakes that are completely unimportant to the safety and well-being of humanity.” Claudia expected to find a raised eyebrow to go with the unvarnished assessment of what the mistake could mean to the Warehouse when she looked up, but H.G.’s eyes were full of compassion and understanding.

And Claudia realized maybe that wasn’t so surprising. H.G.’s threat to the safety and well-being of humanity hadn’t even been accidental like Claudia’s.

She relaxed her hands a bit and H.G. claimed one fully as she continued.

“I would have to say, even with today’s unfortunate episode, you are doing remarkably well growing into yourself, Claudia. You are thoughtful and bright and caring; you understand that what you do has consequences, for yourself and for others; you have one of the more outstanding goals I could imagine anyone having — to help _actually keep the world safe_ — and every probability of succeeding in that goal.”

Her tears had started again as Claudia listened to someone else’s accounting of her character; someone she loved felt that way about her, and she didn’t know how to process it. Her breathing sped up and she tried to pull her hand away from H.G.’s.

“No, darling. I want you to stay. And to listen. I will say it often from now on, because I think the rest of our family forgets you need to hear it: you are irreplaceably wonderful, and we love you. _I_ love you.”

Claudia curled in on herself, and H.G. let go of her shoulder and hand to wrap strong arms around her in the most wonderful hug she could have imagined.

Speaking softly into her ear, H.G. continued, “I was robbed of the chance to tell my Christina the infinite number of “I love you”s that she deserved, but I will gladly give you all the ones _you_ deserve.”


End file.
